Statistics Canada has found that millennials are the most educated generation to date. However, their education has come at a high cost: millennials are so overburdened with school-related debt that they have had to put major life milestones, like buying a house – on hold. So long as the cost of education continues to rise, younger generations will continue to carry educational debt throughout their lives as well.
Education falls under the provincial government’s mandate. However, the federal government does play a part in education as well by providing funding to provinces to help them alleviate the cost of education.
Some parties want to increase the federal contribution to education, while others have remained mum about the issue. Read more below to find out which party is promising what when it comes to education:
The Liberal Party has vowed to…
- Increase Canada Student Grants to provide students with $1,200 more per year and not expect students to pay back their student loans until two years after graduating, and are making at least $35,000. Those with an income below $35,000 would have their loans put on hold.
- As a way to encourage more French to be spoken, the government will make” new investments to help train, recruit and attract teachers in both immersion and second-language programs” and help Ontario in establishing the Université de l’Ontario français, Ontario’s newest francophone university.
- Use 10% of money for international development towards educating child refugees around the world.
The NDP Party has vowed to…
- Eliminate tuition for post-secondary schools (make tuition free), by making post-secondary education a part of the public-school system. Before they get to that point, they first want to make education more affordable by getting rid of interest rates on student loans.
- Provide less loans, and more Canada Student grants.
- Improve education in minority languages, specifically, French by enhancing an existing Action Plan for Official Languages.
- Increase access to education for women and girls around the world, in order to promote gender equality abroad and make sure that women have a seat at the peace- making table.
- Support Indigenous youth in getting into post-secondary institutes by providing them with more financial assistance. They will also work with provinces to “establish Indigenous history education programs” for all Canadians.
The Conservative Party has vowed to…
- Increase how much the federal government matches RESP dollars. For every dollar put into your RESP account, the federal government will contribute 30% (so long as maximum $2,500 is contributed by you). The federal government will maximum provide $750.
- Create post-school jobs programs that would encourage and allow international students to stay in Canada.
- Make sure that colleges and universities courses, programs, and academic curricula reflect the demands of “today’s labour market so students are set up for success”.
The Green Party has vowed to…
- Eliminate tuition for post-secondary schools (make tuition free) for all Canadian students and support post-secondary and trade schools with $10 billion.
- Increase Indigenous youth’s access to post-secondary education
- “Forgive the portion of existing student debt that is held by the federal government.”
The People’s Party has vowed to…
The Bloc Quebecois have vowed to…
- Increase the amount of funding that the federal government provides the provinces for education.
Please note the above points only represent a select few points from each party’s campaign that we felt are of most interest to youth. For a more detailed understanding of these points, check out each party’s federal election platform.
How did we decide what’s youth relevant? We decided what points to include based on which topics have been the most read, pitched, and written to us by our youth audience on www.blnkpage.org . In addition, these points were researched by members of our youth-led team, who also referred to reputable data, Twitter, and other social media discussions that youth were having on #Election2019. For example, we left out points regarding home ownership, cognizant of the fact that although important, the majority of youth aged 12-27 are not yet home owners.
Liked this recap? We also highly recommend you check out Pollenize and Canada Votes if you want a higher-level breakdown of each party’s platform.
